What if?
by XXinsidemymindXX
Summary: What if Kiba was more injured in the walrus scene than the anime let us know? With no moon out and Cheeza captured by Jagara the situation looks grim. first fan fic ever! please RnR :)
1. Chapter 1

**What if?**

What if Kiba was more injured in the walrus scene than the anime let us know? With no moon out and Cheeza captured by Jagara the situation looks grim.

I happen to love sic fics, so please do not hate me. This is the first chapter in a fairly long story that has been playing in my head for a while and of course I do not own Wolf's Rain or any of the characters that I write about. Slight swap of events in later chapters. Rated T for minor swearing and injuries. First fan fic ever :) Please review!...

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Oh and when I write POV, it is only for the next paragraph before it jumps back into third person

Kida could feel himself flying through the air when the walrus finally managed to shake him of only to moments later crash into a large iceberg with his head first. The impact sends shockwaves of pain through the back of his head and he lands on all four shaking his head to try to free himself of the pain and dizziness that suddenly overtook him. However, before he has a chance pull himself together he sees a massive shadow coming closer and given chance to dodge the attack a gigantic tusk is forced into his left thigh. Kibas face contorts in pain and he lets out a cry of agony as blood seeps through his wound and soaks his upper thigh. He struggles to pull the tusk out but only manages to hold his enemy still for a few seconds.

"BASTARD"

"KIBA"

Tsume and Hige launches themselves against the giant walrus once they see the attack on Kiba and try to make the beast let go of him but to no use.

Toboe is sitting on the ground about 15 meters away and takes in the whole nightmarish scene. Kibas, his strong and brave Alpha male is injured, he cannot tell how badly and Tsumes and Higes futile attempts of stopping the beast has no impact at all. When the ancient creature forces his tusk even deeper into Kibas thigh, piercing him straight through the muscle, Kiba cries out in pain.

When hearing his friend and Alpha male's pain something snaps inside the young wolf and Toboe throws himself directly at the beast and bites the beast's eye with his strong fangs, refusing to let go. The beast throws himself up in the air and down into the ice cold, dark water once again in an attempt of shaking of his attacker and the movement releases Kiba from the beast's tusk. He gets up on his feet and limps over to where the Walrus crushed the ice and went underwater to try to locate his friends. After a moment Hige and Tsume reaches the surface and breaths but little Toboe never comes up. The three older wolves watch as a fierce battle takes place in front of their eyes. It ends with both Toboe and the walrus reaching the surface and Toboe being thrown away from the beast, landing on all four seemingly okay, albeit exhausted and soaked from top to bottom. He shakes violently in the cold as he is eying the beast to determine if he still represents a danger. His three friends rush over to him to make sure that he is in fact ok. Hige reaches him first, Tsume right behind and Kiba limping behind them.

When Toboe, Hige and Tsume starts filling their empty stomachs with the flesh of the beast Kiba hesitates, suddenly the smell of raw flesh and blood makes his stomach twitch:

**Kiba POV**

What is this? I have never felt this way before, my head hurts so bad, it feels like it's about to explode and suddenly I'm really nauseous, I try to swallow it down but it is a futile struggle. I back off from the beast's corpse and bend down behind a smaller ice block and starts throwing up. My stomach is completely empty but that does not stop my body from dry heaving up the last bit of water I had a few hours ago.

Tsume is the only one that notices the absence of their alpha male; the other two are way too happy stuffing their guts with the fresh meat to notice anything happening around them. He sees Kiba step away from the group and disappear behind a close by ice block. Tsume cannot see what is happening but the sounds of someone being sick together with the splash of water against the ice paints quite a colourful picture on its own. He stops eating and walks over to the spot where his pack mate is currently busy throwing his guts up on the ice to find out what's wrong.

"Kiba, you alright"? Tsume says with his normal 'I don't give a shit' voice.

Kiba, still being in the hold of the dry heaving ignores his friend until he is finally free of the nausea and can breathe somewhat alright again, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and tries to stand up, only to be caught in another dizzy spell which forces him to take support from the ice block with his free hand. Tsume steps in and puts his hand around Kibas back to keep him from falling.

"Kiba", Tsume says with a slightly softer voice, "what's wrong?"

The younger wolf who finally caught his breath again, pushes Tsume away while muttering "I'm fine thank you". However, in reality he was far from fine, his head hurt if possible, even more than before, he could not put any support on his left leg without hissing in pain and the nausea had left him feeling completely drained to the point where it was hard to even stand up. Not that he had any intention of letting the slightly older wolf know any of this.

In the mean time the two youngest members of the pack had finally finished their meal and started to look for the remaining members. They located Kiba and Tsume and walked over to them.

"Hey guys, what's happening, wow, what's wrong with you Kiba?" Hige asks when noticing the pale Alpha leader who is currently leaning against the iceberg trying to make it look causal and not at all like he is in a lot of pain and failing big time. Kiba, obviously not the mood for sharing mutters a short "I'm fine" before speaking up a bit louder saying "if you guys are finished eating let's leave this place" before starting to limp in the direction of the Jagaras Keep again.

Tsume answers in Kibas place upon seeing the question in Higes eyes, "He just threw up and has not eaten anything, but if he says he is fine" Tsume just shrugs before finishing the sentence "hell, I want to get out of this dump too".

They all let their human illusions drop before starting a light jog but it gets even more apparent that Kiba is not his usual self when he cannot even keep up the jog in front of the pack but soon starts to lack behind the rest. At this point they are all getting really worried and Tsume keeps looking back at Kiba to see how he is.

**Kibas POV three hours later**

What the hell is wrong with me? I'm completely out of it, the back of my head hurts like hell and my vision is getting blurry. Come on man, pull yourself together, you have to find and free Cheeza before it is too late.

Suddenly he slips on a small rock and falls down; he shifts into his human illusion just in time to support himself with his arms and lands on all four. Kiba tries to get up but his left leg gives in, he falls back and everything goes dark…


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter, yay! Please let me know what you think!

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**Chapter 2**

Tsume notices his pack mate's collapse and calls out to the two younger wolfs, "Let's take a break guys" before heading back to see how Kiba is doing. What he finds makes him really worried. His friend is completely passed out, violently trembling as if he can't contain any body heat and looking paler than ever.

Tsume lifts Kiba up and carries him to the nearest Iceberg in the hope it will give him some protection against the rough artic winds. He starts inspecting Kibas leg while going through the fight in his head trying to figure out what is wrong with their Alpha male. He suddenly remembers that Kiba was thrown into the iceberg and starts inspecting the back of Kibas hair. Indeed, at the back of Kibas head he finds a nasty bruise. It looked swollen and very sore.

What is wrong with him Tsume? The pup looks like he is about to start crying, "Please tell me, Tsume, what is wrong?"

Tsume growls annoyed, Toboe is just worried about Kiba, now is not the time to snap at the runt Tsume says to himself before speaking up. "He must have hurt his head in the fight; a head injury can cause nauseousness and fatigue. I've seen it before. Plus he has not eaten in almost a week, as supposed to the rest of us and the moon is only new so it cannot help him heal his injuries".

What shall we do? It has to be something we can do?

"Well I would tell you to find some medicinal herbs but there is nothing alive in this god forsaken dump, the only thing we can do for him right now is trying to keep him warm". With this Tsume marks that the conversation is over by turning around facing Hige and says

"Hige, go search for some shelter, we need to get Kiba away from the cold".

"I think we passed a formation of caves a little while ago, let me check and I'll be back soon." Hige nods with a worried look on his face and disappears into the arctic landscape in the direction they just came from.

Tsume turns around and looks in the direction Hige went. Toboe lies down next to his unconscious alpha male trying to provide as much warmth as possible while protecting him from the icy winds of the north.

About two hours later Hige Tsume sees the outline of Higes shape in the distance. When he comes closer he says:

"I was right, there is a good cave around an hours walk from here, how is he?"

Tsume nods and carefully lifts up their injured friend while answering the younger wolf "still no reaction, we need to get him into a proper shelter".

**At the cave**

Tsume lays their injured friend down in the cave and looks to the two youngest members of the pack who eagerly looks up to their older friend for guidance. He sighs to himself, why the hell do they look to me for answers? I have no desire to lead a pack, nor have I the slightest idea on how to do it, or take care of injuries for that matter.

"Toboe, I know it is probably futile but go see if you can find some useful herbs and Hige, when he wakes up, he needs food. See what you can find".

The two younger wolfs simply nods before heading out back into the ice.

Not long after Toboe and Hige left, Kiba starts to stir. He finally wakes up and tries to sit up but the movement is way too hasty and another wave of dizziness and nausea rushes over him, causing him to bend over gaging. Tsume tries to help by holding him up while his friend loses the battle with his nausea for the second time that day. This time there is not even any water left in his stomach and he only dry heaves for a couple of minutes or so. When he feels like he can finally sit up straight without being betrayed by his stomach Kiba wipes his mouth, spits and struggles to sit up. Tsume helps him. It is a clear sign that the younger male is in a bad shape when he simply accepts the other wolfs help without any protest.

"Finally awake huh?"

Kiba simply nods. "Where are the others?"

"They're out searching for food, how is your head?"

"It hurts like hell and I still feel a bit sick" Kiba admits after a few seconds.

"You should lay down again and rest" Tsume says and half forces, half helps Kiba to liaydown on the cave floor again. Kiba nods in agreement and tries to make himself as comfortable as possible on the cold cave floor with his left leg stretched out and the rest curled up in a futile attempt to keep warm.

Tsume walks over to the entrance of the cave and sits down, staring out into the white nothing. When he hears the light breathing signalling that Kiba has once again fallen asleep he looks over too his friend and sighs quietly. He couldn't really bring himself to be angry with the younger wolf, not this time. He often did reckless things without thinking it through first and in the process ended up getting injured but this time Tsume had to admit it was not his fault, it could have been anyone in their small group that was laying on the cave floor with a huge piece of his flesh pierced right now. It just came down to bad luck this time. Tsume leaves his scouting position when he remembers that Kiba needed water judging from the last vomiting session. He gets up and digs a whole in the ground and fills it up with snow for Kiba to drink when he wakes up before he once again sits down to scout for anything unusual.

Toboe arrives later without any herbs and in the dusk of the day Hige returns carrying one skinny rabbit…

**The middle of the night**

Hige wakes up by a quiet whimper. He opens his eyes to find an unconscious Kiba trembling and whimpering in his sleep. Hige gets up and licks Kibas ear comforting before he takes a look at the wound on Kibas thigh. Hige smells something… Off… about the wound, is very faint and Hige can't pinpoint it so he shifts into his human form and puts his hand on it and feels the heat radiating from the wound.

Hige wakes up the other two.

"Kiba is not doing too well; I think an infection might be settling in"

What shall we do? We have neither the medicine nor the knowledge on how to handle an infection" Toboe says when the full extent of the situation is dawning on him. It looks like he is about to start cry.

"Shut up runt, there is nothing we can do right now, but our best trying to keep him warm" Tsume says trying to not let the worry shine through his voice, an infection, on top of everything else? Great, just great...

Hige shifts into his true wolf form and licks the wound clean before parking himself next Kiba to trying to share his body heat with his freezing friend. The other two also lets their illusions drop and curls up around their wounded pack member.

**Next morning**

The sun is shining through the thick clouds and the cave seems a bit lighter and warmer than last night.

"If we can find some better shelter for him, like an abandoned cabin or something it would provide us with a better protection and possible some blankets and medicine or something for Kiba". Toboe argues but is only met with a contempt snarl from Tsume

"Yeah right, where the hell would we find a place like that? Look out kid, we are in the middle of nowhere, there is not a single human settlement for days in each direction and Kiba can't move the way he is now".

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing can we?"

Before Tsume has a chance for a comeback they are all interrupted by a weak whimper followed by an unconscious cry from Kiba, they turn around to see their friend shuddering in his sleep.

They all bend down next do Kiba and Toboe puts his nose against Kibas, when he turns away he has a worried look on his face

"He has a high fever".

Hige inspects Kibas leg and it does not look good. The skin around the wound is swollen and bright pink and there is a strong heat radiating from the pierced skin.

"He is definitely suffering from an infection, come to think about it, it is probably not so unexpected, that old walruses tusks must have been really dirty and full of bacteria" states Hige, always the one to point out the obvious.

Kiba stirs under the noise their inspection has caused and slowly wakes up. First he looks confused and only half there, but as his vision clears up he sees the worried faces of his friends.

"Hi guys", Kiba says with a weak voice before switching to his human illusion and struggles to sit up, leaning against the cave wall

Toboes expression switches from worried to happy in less than a second before he runs over and hugs Kiba. Kiba smiles slightly but almost instantly gasps for air and pushes the pup away from his left leg, Toboe had accidently leaned on it with his knee when bending down to hug Kiba.

"O no, I'm so sorry Kiba!" The pup says in a high pitched voice with tears in his eyes from the guilt.

"It's okay, it was an accident". Kiba says and tries to make the kid feel better by smiling even though he is still panting from the pain.

"How do you feel?" Hige is the one voicing the question that lingers on all of the wolves' lips.

"Al right" Kiba says, smiling reassuring, only to be met by sceptical looks from his friends. He could probably have pulled the white lie off if his flustered and sweaty appearance hadn't betrayed him so obviously.

Kiba chooses to completely ignore his friends' glares and as soon as he can breathe fairly normal again starts pulling himself up with help from the wall, only to be stopped halfway by Toboe and pushed down into sitting position again.

"Whoa, what are you doing? You are in no condition to be up and running right now".

"I said I'm fine, we have to keep going". Kiba stands up again with help from the cave wall and takes one limping step towards the cave entrance before freezing when he hears Tsumes next words.

"Geez man, you're stubborn to the point of stupidity". Tsume growls in a low voice. "I didn't carry you all the way here for you to run yourself down and make me babysit you once again".

Kibas completely expressionless face shows no signs of what he is thinking when he is looking Tsume straight in the eyes but after a short moment he sighs slightly, backs one step and slides back into sitting positing with his back against the wall again.

To be honest he felt rather like crap, he knew he had caught a fever, even though they were in the middle of an ice desert his whole body felt like it was boiling and every limb ached, thus he decided to remove his black jacket in hopes that this would cool him down a bit. His leg hurt if possible even more than the yesterday and judging from the look and smell of it he had already caught an infection, great. On the plus side the nausea seemed to have subsided somewhat to a mere discomfort in the back of his throat and his head no longer felt like it was on the verge of exploding.

Upon finishing the mental examination of himself and his current state he realised he was both hungry and thirsty. He didn't dare eat anything yet but some water would be heaven for his ragged body. He dropped his human illusion and drank deeply out of the hole in the ground next to him that Tsume had made yesterday while tuning in to listening to the last part of his friends most recent bickering.

"So what are we going to do, sit here and role our thumbs?"

"If you have a better idea runt, I'm open for suggestions". Tsume says, well knowingly that at the moment they just had to sit down and wait until Kiba felt well enough to get going again.

Hige who had been silent for a long time turns to Kiba, "Hungry? I caught a rabbit yesterday for you" Hige offers.

"No thank you. I'm fine. You'll have it, I'm sure you are hungry again…" and indeed, Higes stomach starts to rumble, almost as if on a cue.

Hige smiles embarrassed, "well it's no way near enough for all of us. Hey runt, isn't it time you learn how to hunt? Come with me and I'll show you a few things"

"Yeah cool!" Toboe nods excitedly and they both disappear into the icy landscape.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

Another chapter is up! Created by a combination of boredom, encouragement from the review I received and the desperate procrastination of my ooh so overdue assignments ;). Hope you enjoy ladies and gents :D

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The day passes slowly, Tsume does not move away from his designated post by the cave entrance, staring out into the nothingness while Kiba goes back and forward between a semi-wakefulness and unconsciousness. His fever refuses to break and as the day progresses he is tossed between shivering violently, frozen to the marrow, and suffering from an unbearable heat that makes him whimper weakly in his sleep during the fever spikes. He only wakes up once, his head is pounding heavily, creating a blurry vision and the nausea is back with full power. He barely manages to sit up straight before bending over vomiting again. Tsume is already by his side having watched is friend stirring and waking up looking paler than ever. Tsume holds his arm around Kibas back lending him some much needed support and when the dry heaving finally subside he helps his friend to lay down again. Kiba falls asleep almost instantly but does not seem to be able to get the rest he desperately needs, instead he keeps tossing and turning in his sleep. Tsume stays by his side long after Kiba passed out again even though he knows it is not much he can do for the younger wolf right now.

**Late in the afternoon**

Hige and Toboe turn up in the cave entrance just before sunset, their laughs and friendly banter can be heard long before them and when they show up in the cave entrance they are carrying a medium sized spotted seal.

"Told you I could do it, look Tsume I caught a"… Toboe starts before stopping midsentence when he takes in the scene… The whole cave smells of illness and his Alpha, still unconscious, is lying on the cave floor shivering with Tsume next to him, both in their true forms, with the latter trying to give Kiba as much warmth as possible with his own body.

"He is not better yet?" Toboe can't help himself asking even though he can clearly see the evidence in front of him.

"If anything, I'd say he's worse". Tsume says before getting up to inspect their latest catch.

"Shall we wake him up? He really needs to eat something to get better". Toboe asks in an uncertain voice.

Hige has not said a word since they entered the cave but instead he goes over to Kiba and gently rocks his shoulder to wake him up.

"Kiba"? He says in a soft voice, "Kiba, we caught you some dinner, it's time to wake up now".

Kiba stirs under the noise and the rocking and it does not take long until he is looking up at his pack members with tired eyes, he changes into his human shape and sits up before he nods towards Hige and Toboe in a quiet greeting.

"There you are, welcome back to the land of the living. Hungry"? Hige asks before getting interrupted by Toboes light voice.

"I caught a seal Kiba! It's huge"!

"You did not, stop bragging already. I practically served it on a plate for you pup".

"SO NOT! That is not true and you know it Hige"!

Kiba smiles at the excitement clearly evident in the young wolfs' eyes and the sudden swap to unconcealed indignation apparent in the pups voice and face when his great price and pride of the hunt is taken away from him.

He sits quietly and listens to his pack mates bickering, hoping that they might be too focused on the price of the hunt to pay any attention to him. He feels weak, weaker than he could ever remember feeling before, his head is still sore, his whole body aches from the fever and his left leg… God it hurts. By now he can smell the pus oozing out of it and even the slightest movement sends a shot of pain through the whole god damned thing. Kiba knew he really needed the meat, it's been almost a week since he had anything to eat and the illness had drained him of whatever energy he had left, but he also knew that nothing he ate would stay down and the vomiting only made him feel weaker than he already was…

"Kiba, why aren't you eating? I caught is for you, you need to eat something to get better". Toboe asks worriedly.

"I'm fine, thank you Toboe, but it is your kill, you should eat it yourself".

"But, you have to be hungry, why?"

"That´s enough runt, can't you see he is not hungry? Give the poor guy a break". Tsume bites of, effectively ending the conversation.

"Toboe, come over here, if you don't start eating soon it's not going to be my fault that you'll end up without" Hige states teasingly before digging into the chewy meat.

Kiba looks at his three pack members. Hige and Tsume were starting to realise what was happening, they understood better than the younger, more naïve Toboe. Kiba could see it in their eyes, the worry they could not completely conceal with their playful bantering.

It really pissed him of. He was stronger than this. He was supposed to be the one that took care of the rest, their protector, and here he was, weaker than a newborn puppy. At least a new born pup could keep awake for more than ten minutes at the time. But not him, he could already feel his eyelids starting to sink slowly and a yawn slipped through his lips. God he was tired, it felt like he had not slept for weeks, just to stay awake seemed an impossible task right now and so he gave up the fight, shifted back into his true form and lay down on the cold ground again, closing his eyes completely.

Tsume had discretely observed the white wolf during the whole dinner scene and when he was certain that Kiba was out cold again he turns to Toboe.

"Listen to me Toboe. Kiba is really sick. I've seen it before. When an infection like that sets in properly… well, some make it through and some don't… it is nothing we can do about it but wait and try to help him as much as we can".

"Ww, what are you saying Tsume? Are you saying we should just give up? Wait for him to..? No way! How could you even say that! After everything we have been through? We could take him to the humans; they are a lot better at curing sickness! They would know what to do"!

"Come on Toboe", Hige interferes "you know that's impossible, he is a wolf, not a god damned human, they wouldn't have a clue of what to do with him. Besides, the next town up ahead is another two days away, there is no way he would manage a trip like that right now, even if we carried him all the way".

"I can't believe what I'm hearing, are you two giving up? Already? Hell no!" Toboe rushes blindly out into the darkness with tears in his eyes.

"But Toboe, wait! I only tried to make you unders".

"Forget it Hige, nothing you can say will make him feel any better right now. Just let him run for a bit" Tsume says in a defeated voice that is very uncharacteristic for the usually so self-confident grey wolf.

They both lay down in an attempt to get to sleep even though no one feels tired, what else could they do but wait?

A couple of hours later a shadow walks quietly in to the cage, careful not to disturb the three sleeping wolves in there. Old tears that were never wiped of are shining on its cheeks in the weak light of a new moon that has just started to develop. The shadow walks over to a white wolf that is tossing and turning in his sleep and a hand is reached out to provide a comforting pat to the restless creature. Kiba instinctively calms down and starts breathing a little less ragged. After a short moment Toboe stops patting Kibas white fur and settles down next to him instead.

**Next morning**

Two days has come and gone since the walrus attacked the wolves and no sign of improvement is noticeable in the packs' injured member. If anything Kiba looks worse today than last night, his fever spiked several times during the night and he does no longer react to any of the others attempts to contact him.

"Toboe, listen to me. Kiba is strong. He'll get over this" Tsume says in an attempt to calm the youngest member of the pack down a bit.

"No he won't! Can't you see that? If we don't do anything for him soon, he is"… Toboe bites back frustrated. "If you guys won't help him I will"! And with those words he bends down, picks Kiba up and struggles to stand up again with Kiba on his right shoulder. However the burden is just too heavy for him so he ends up falling back, landing on his ass and dropping Kiba back on the cave floor in the process. Kiba cries out in pain when the wounded leg hits the ground but shows no other signs of consciousness. He lies perfectly still on the floor, whimpering quietly with closed eyes.

"O for fuck sake, you'll only end up hurting him more". Hige grunts while going up to Kiba to see how he is after the fall. "What was your plan anyhow"?

"I'm taking him to the next human town. I have seen them treat other sick humans before, why couldn't they help him"?

"Well for starters, I seriously doubt Kiba would like to be treated by humans" Tsume says with a slight smirk on his lips at the thought of a really pissed of Kiba waking up surrounded by humans.

"Well that is true". Toboe says a bit more uncertain. "But he is not able to tell us what he wants right now and I think that his best chances are with the humans. Besides, he did not seem to mind when Lyeks people were helping us". He continues with more confidence in his voice.

Upon seeing the determination and frustration in the younger wolfs' eyes Tsume sighs and gives in.

"Fine, Hige, you and I take turns carrying him and you runt; try to keep up will you".

He lifts Kiba carefully up onto his shoulder and turns to Hige. "He is not that heavy, we can do it. Lucky it wasn't you porky, we'd be in big trouble then".

"Ha ha, very funny. Maybe a little less talking and a little more walking if I may suggest". Hige grumbles before walking out of the cave and setting course towards the next town.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I never thought I would write fluffy stuff but as I kept writing this chapter a short dialogue between Kiba and Hige kept popping into my head begging me to write it down, I hope it did not ended up being too out of character for them but I've always liked their friendship bond in the anime so this is my take on what would happen if Kiba "had a moment", everybody is allowed a bad day right?

Oh, and this is the chapter with the swap of events from the anime...

I do not think I am completely satisfied with how this chapter turned out, if there is anyone out there that has any input as how to alter it to the better, please let me know :).

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Kiba might not be the biggest and bulkiest guy but carrying a full grown man for hours and hours at a time on your back while running through an icy landscape will eventually take it out of you. So around lunchtime Tsume had to admit he was starting to get tired. Suddenly he feels a movement on his back signalling that his burden is waking up from his deep unconsciousness. He slows down to a stop and carefully puts Kiba down on the ground before sitting down himself.

"Let's take a break guys".

The younger wolves follow his lead and stops to catch their breaths. When Hige can breathe normally again he walks over to Kiba to see how he is feeling. The white wolf has opened his eyes again and is looking around confused, he is trying to get a grasp of the situation even though his vision is sort of blurry and he still feels a bit groggy after sleeping for so long.

"Look who is finally awake, geez; you really like your sleep don't you"? Hige says teasingly.

"How long was I out"?

"Well, I'd say it's about lunchtime now and you've slept since last night"…

"Where are we"?

"On our way to Jagara of course, but firstly the next town up ahead. But really, how are you feeling now? Can you walk"?

"I, I don't know". Kiba answers hesitantly. He shifts into his human shape and struggles to stand up; Hige gives a hand to help him get up and places himself on Kibas left side so he does not have to put any support on his injured leg. Hige can feel the heat radiating from his friend even through the clothes; the fever still has him in a tight grip. Hige puts his right arm around his friends back and lifts Kibas left arm up around his shoulders. But even with his friends' help the effort is too much for Kiba and after only a few steps he is unable to keep going, in fact, if Hige had not been there he would have collapsed completely, as it is now Hige slowly and carefully helps him down into a sitting position on the cold ground again. Kibas breath is coming in short painful gasps for air and his face is completely white except for the two red spots on his cheeks from the fever.

Tsume sees something crack in Kibas normally so expressionless face and to spare his friend the humiliation he calls Toboe over, "hey runt, I saw some weird plants over there, can you help me identify them, they are not medical herbs are they"? Toboe follows and Kiba is left with only Hige at his side. He sits quiet for a long time, long enough for Hige to get bored; he assumes Kiba does not want his company right now so he stands up with the intention to join Tsume and Toboe but before he takes that first step Kibas low voice stops him.

"I'm useless, at this rate we will not be able to save Cheeza in time, you guys should just leave me here, Cheeza needs you more than I do". He says with a voice full of pain, guilt and frustration. The last couple of days had not been easy for the strong and independent wolf who was used to take care of himself and always look after his friends. He was the one that saved Tsume from the war machine that had him at aim, he was the one that liberated Hige from the cage when the wolves on the island handed him over to the humans, he was the one that took care of little Toboes sore foot before they realised that Cheeza had healing powers. He was the one that protected Cheeza at all costs; he even took a bullet for her without any hesitation. He was _not_ the one that had to depend on others to get by. At least not until now…

"Huh, what kind of stupid talk is that? After everything we have been through together?

"But I…I am"…

"Just not used to being sick right? Hey, Kiba, look at me, we are a pack remember? We look after each other. We are going to paradise and we are going there together, all of us. So stop this ridiculous sulking, alright?

After a long moment a quiet "thank you" is whispered out between two almost closed lips, Kiba looks up upon Hige and smiles a very faint smile. "You are a good friend Hige" he continues quietly.

"Yeah I know, especially since it is my turn to carry your sorry ass, I was hoping I could avoid it but it doesn't seem very likely right now". Hige states with a grin before turning towards the others "O HOY OVER THERE, if you two are finished looking at flowers we would like to get going now".

While the other two walks over to join them Hige helps Kiba on his feet again, however, even though he said he would he does not lift him up to carry him but simply stands next to Kiba providing him with something to lean on.

Kiba is this really wise? We could help you more" Toboe starts but is cut off short by the look on Kibas face and Higes discrete headshake.

So they start walking, slowly this time. Letting Kiba set the speed. He breaths heavy and every single movement send sharp shots of pain through his ragged body. However, he is determined not to let that stop him, nothing is more important than finding Cheeza; he could not care less about his own health.

They do not get very far though, they had only been walking a few hundred meters when Hige feels Kiba starting to lean more and more on him and it only takes a few more steps before he can feel his friend starting to go down on his knees again. He slowly puts his now unconscious friend down on the ground with help from Toboe.

Tsume just stands there with his arms crossed over his chest. he looks at his friends and growls annoyed.

"God that guy is stupid. He'd rather kill himself than admit he needs help".

"Give him a break Tsume, you are pretty headstrong too, and he has had a rough few days". Hige defends Kiba.

"That does not make what I said less true. He'd rather run himself down even though he can barely stand, than let us carry him, he will kill himself if he keeps doing this".

"Yeah yeah, whatever, will you help us or not"?

In the meantime, Toboe, the wolf with the best hearing has picked up a weak sound coming towards them.

"Guys, shut up! I can hear something!" He is quiet for another moment before shining up, "it's a car! Someone is coming; we can ask them for help".

"You're kidding right? Why would humans help us"? Tsume snorts.

The car is getting closer and both Hige and Tsume try to see it in the distance, preparing themselves for a fight if necessary. But that proves to be a waste of energy, when the car pulls up next to the four wolves an exited Blue jumps out before the car has even come to a full stop. Higes face shines up completely and he rushes to meet her.

Blue?! O MY GOD, how? When? What happened to you? He stumbles on the words in his excitement and hugs her hard, as if to ensure himself that she is actually there…

"I have missed you guys, Cheeza and I was captured and transported away but somehow we crashed, I do not know why but I think it was a battle between Jagara and Darcias forces. Cher and Hubb found us and freed us but Jagara ended up taking Hub and Cheeza so we have been traveling to Jagaras keep to find them again".

During Blues speech Cher parks the car and gets out, obviously a lot more uncertain in how she should greet the boys/wolves than her travel companion. Toboe notices this and walks up to her with a smile. "Thank you for bringing Blue back to us, we are heading towards Jagaras Keep too, let's go together"!

When Blue finally takes her eyes of Hige she finds Kiba unconscious on the ground and Tsume standing next to him, protectively.

"Kiba? What has happened? What is wrong with him"? She asks as she walks closer.

"We were attacked and Kiba got hurt, his wound is infected and he hurt his head too" Toboe explains. "We… are very worried; there is nothing we can do to help him so I wanted to take him to the humans, because they usually know what to do when someone is ill".

Cher walks past him, ignoring Tsumes glaring and bends down next to the young man with messy brown hair. She puts her hand on his forehead for a second and when she takes the hand away she has a worried look on her face, she continues to examine the back of his head and then moves on to inspect the infected deep wound on his left thigh.

"He is burning up, how long has it been since the attack?"

"Um… More than two days". Toboe answers.

"He might be dehydrated, has he been sick? When was the last time he had something to drink"?

"Yeah, he has been throwing up a few times, um… maybe a day or so? He has been unconscious most of the time so it's a bit hard to tell". This time it is Tsume who answers, surprising the rest of the group. He quickly continues in a more Tsume like way though, "Why do you care? He is no friend of yours".

"Tsume"! Toboe says shocked.

"Be nice". Hige fills in annoyed.

"I do not know what he is to you, but all I see is a badly hurt young boy who is in desperate need of medical attention. I myself have a limited knowledge of how to deal with this but I do have a car which can take him to people that specialise in these sorts of things and more importantly, some money that will buy him the care he needs, but if you do not want my help… well, the only one who will suffer is your friend". Cher explains without breaking eye contact with the grey wolf for a single second.

Tsumes only response is a low growl, both warning and daring her to keep pushing his buttons but before the situation goes completely out of hand Toboe and Blue steps in between them.

"Yes Cher, we would really appreciate it if you could help us out". Blue says in an attempt to smooth over Tsumes rudeness at the same time as Toboe tries his best to calm Tsume down by saying that she is only trying to help Kiba…

After some organising, such as lowering the passenger seat so Kiba can at least half lay down and wrapping a blanket from the back of the car around him they get going again. They agreed that Cher would drive him to town and the other meet them there when they caught up with them. Tsume however, refused to accept this plan, leaving his injured friend in the hands of a human? No way! And so it was decided that Toboe would come with them, simply because he was the only one who could fit in the small trunk of the vehicle. Cher is driving; Kiba sleeps in the passenger seat and Toboe have placed himself on the back of the pickup designed vehicle. It is still at least another half a day's drive with car so they are aiming to get there just after sunset.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Alright, the end is near! I initially intended this to be the last chapter but it got a bit to long so I divided it into two instead. I would like to thank **ForeverWildfire2.0 **for help with editing and great advice through this journey!

* * *

The drive to the nearest town goes relatively painless. Kiba wanders back and forward between being half awake and complete unconsciousness. During the first time he wakes up and finds himself in an alien car with a woman he panics and tries to get out. Cher had luckily foreseen this and locked the doors so he could not throw himself out of the car in pure panic and hurt himself even more. She hits the breaks while trying to calm down the confused young man in the passenger seat but only receives a painful bite on her right hand for her efforts. When the car finally comes to a complete stop she unlocks the car and gets out as quickly as she can.

"Toboe, you have to help me, he is panicking"!

In the meantime Kiba opens his own door and desperately struggles to get out of the car. Toboe immediately grasps the situation and jumps of the car to calm down his friend.

"Kiba, listen to me it's alright, it's me Toboe" he explains while grabbing his pack mate to hold him down. After a very short fight, which Toboe easily wins, Toboe continues to try to reach Kiba.

"Kiba, it's me Toboe, listen to me, it's alright I'm here".

Kiba finally calms down and looks at Toboe with eyes dull and confused from the fever, "Toboe?"

"Yes, it's me" Toboe smiles in relief. He helps his friend up to a sitting position leaning against the right front car tyre. When they both can breathe sort of normally again Kiba starts looking around, observing his surroundings in a desperate attempt to understand what is happening.

"Where are we? Where are the others? He asks and then turns his attention to Cher who in the meantime walked around the car to see what is happening. "What are you doing here? You're the one that was searching for Cheeza before, aren't you"?

When Kiba focuses on her, Cher crouches down next to the two boys, holding her right hand with her left in a tight grip but otherwise shows no sign of pain or fear.

"Yes I was, my name is Cher".

"We ran into each other on the way to the next town, Blue was with her". Toboe explains.

"Blue"?

"Yes Blue, the others are on their way but we are taking you to a hospital".

"Hospital"? Kiba struggles to grasp the situation but it seems impossible, Toboes words make no sense and his head is pounding so loudly that it overpowers all his attempts to think clearly.

"Kiba, listen to me, we are taking you to the next town to get some help. You need medicine to get better, the others will catch up with us as soon as they can" The blond woman continues.

"You have to listen to me carefully Kiba, I now it's hard to focus right now but when we get there you have to keep your human illusion up at all times. The humans will help you but only if they believe we are like them, okay"? Toboe continues with a greater maturity and insight than Kiba has ever seen in the younger wolf before. He knows that the cub is saying something important but no matter how hard he tries he just cannot focus on the words, instead he feels himself slipping into the darkness once again.

Toboe catches his friend by embracing him when he starts tilting. Toboe gently wipes the sweat from Kibas flustered face and with help from Cher lifts the older wolf up and carries him to the passenger seat of the car again. When they are finished Toboe turns to Cher.

"I'm so sorry, Kiba panicked, he did not mean to hurt you, does it hurt a lot"?

Cher chuckles at that for a second "Oh I very much so believe he did mean to hurt me but I'm ok I promise, I understand, he was frightened. There is no need to apologise". She answers and smiles reassuringly before continuing, almost to herself. "You are all so very young, nothing more than boys really".

Toboe is quiet for a moment before looking up at the blonde woman with a serious look full of sadness and worry on his innocent face.

"Thank you so much for helping us Cher, Kiba is very important to us and I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't met you and Blue, I would never for example have thought of the fact that you need money if you want the humans to help you.

"Do not worry, we will make sure he gets better, okay"?

Toboe nods, his earlier expression replaced with one of pure determination. "Let's go".

**Midnight, hospital entrance**

It is close to midnight when they finally arrive and in the darkness the town looks completely deserted. Not a single person is out on the street. Cher finds the hospital by following the road signs and when they arrive Kiba is taken away by men in white scrubs. Cher is asked to fill in a few forms and pay a check in fee and a nurse comes out to take care of her own wound on her hand.

"Dog bite? You will have to have a rabies shot, just in case". Cher simply nods instead of trying to debate why she is sure that she does not need a needle, better to avoid lengthy complicated lies and explanations that she could tangle herself up in. When the nurse is finished taking care of Cher, she is directed to a waiting room where an impatient Toboe is irritating the nurse on call. Cher sits down happy just to relax for a few minutes. Toboe however, has no intention of just sitting quietly and wait, he keeps bugging the nurse in the waiting room about news and in between walks back and forwards nervously.

"Toboe, sit down please, they will let us know what is happening and when we can see him when they know. Trust me, why don't you try to sleep a bit? That is what I'm planning on".

Toboe sighs and sinks back into one of the armchairs placed along the walls of the room for comfort. He does not go to sleep and anytime anyone enters the room he jumps up again. Not until the next morning arrives with a red sunrise a middle aged doctor with a slight beer gut enters the room and walks over to the currently sleeping Cher and the extremely bored Toboe.

"How is he? Is he going to be okay? What did you do? Can I see him now"? Toboe blurs out and accidently wakes Cher up from her light sleep in the process.

Cher stretches in a vain attempt to rid herself of the stiff neck she received as a result of sleeping in an awkward position while listening to the doctor answering Toboes stream of questions.

"He is currently resting. His condition is still unstable but we have given him antibiotics for the infection, Morfin for the pain and Neurofen for the fever. He had to have surgery to clean the wound on his leg and stiches; we have also attached a small drainage to keep it clean from the pus that will keep reproducing until the infection is broken. Regarding his concussion the only thing to do is just wait and make sure he does not move more than necessary. And yes, you can see him now; I'll take you to his room". He finishes his explanation and leads both Cher and Toboe to the room where Kiba is currently resting.

When they get there they find Kiba lying in a hospital bed in a completely white room. He is dressed in a way they have never seen him before, something that can best be described as a white sleeping gown. He is hocked up to several different beeping machines by black tubes, needles and clamps. On a small table next to the bed there are three different white boxes with medicine and some instructions on how to take them together with Kibas clothes, now folded and cleaned. The machines keep showing a whole heap of numbers and letters that means nothing to Toboe. To the young wolf the whole scene seems very intimidating and daunting and so he stops halfway between the door and his friend unsure what to do. He is in the middle of a chaotic inner monologue when he suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder and a calming voice telling him to walk up to his friend.

Cher lets her hand fall down to her side again when Toboe looks up at her, nods and takes the last three steps to his friends' bed. She looks at them and for some reason she cannot quite pinpoint her heart aches for the two boys. She suddenly misses Hub extremely and promises herself that as soon as the others arrive she will continue towards Jagaras' keep to find him.

The doctor quietly walks up to her and asks if she is responsible for the young man, she hesitates for a second before nodding slowly.

"We have done everything we can for him, now we can only wait and see. As I said before his condition is still unstable but I believe he will recover. We gave him some anaesthetic before we'd put him under just in case he would wake up before we were finished, so he will be a bit nauseous when he wakes up but that is only normal. He is also hooked up to an IV since he was dangerously dehydrated".

"The doctor hesitates for a second before continuing: "Now… listen, I have seen a few bad cases in my time here, especially since the war between the nobles started but I have never seen an injury like that, would you like to fill me in as to what happened"? His words are very polite and calmed but the tone of his voice said: 'what the hell happened here'?

Cher was quiet for a moment while contemplating her answer; she decided to go with the truth.

"I do not know doctor. I just meet them on the road here, they had been attacked by some sort of wild animal and so I gave them a lift to the hospital".

The doctor looked a bit sceptical at this very simple explanation but decided to not pursue the matter further.

**A couple of hours later**

The town had started to wake up from its nightly slumber when the three wolves arrived. Hige approaches an old woman in a grey coat to keep the cold out and a hat to ask for directions to the local hospital and after a few minutes he nods, smiles and walks back to his friends who is standing and waiting for him impatiently.

"Alright, the hospital is actually not that far from here, we will be there in ten, we just have to follow this main road two blocks, turn left and then follow that road for about a mile or so". He states before starting to wander down the street, the other two follows him quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**At the hospital**

When Tsume, Hige and Blue walks in to the hospital room where Kiba is sleeping they find Toboe sitting on a chair next to the bed, he rushes up when he sees them and signals that they need to go outside the room to talk.

"O boy am I glad to see you guys"! He blurts out excitedly.

Tsumes eyes have not left his sleeping friend since he entered the room and he immediately asks "How is he? He is going to be alright, right"?

Toboes expression changes from happy to worried in an instant when he explains the situation to the others "The doctors gave him some medicine for the fever and infection and… um… put some stiches over his wound and now he is sleeping, they told us that he is still unstable and all we can do now is wait and see. Oh and Cher told me that the doctor told her that they gave him something to sleep and he will be sick when he wakes up from it".

"Wait, why would they make him sleep? He's done nothing but sleeping for three days, he needs to wake up! Man humans are weird" Hige states with an incredulous look on his face.

"Told you it was useless to ask the humans for help" Tsume snorts.

"Guys, I am worried about him changing back in his sleep or when he wakes up, I tried to tell him not to on the way here but I'm not sure if he understood me or not, he was pretty out of it at that point"….

"I think the best thing would be to always have someone sitting next to him so that when he wakes up he does not freak out and accidently kills a nurse or something" Hige suggests.

"Ok, let's do that. I'll take the first shift" Tsume says.

Blue who has been quiet up until now, turns to Toboe. "Where is Cher? Has she left already"?

"Naa, she is just sleeping in the waiting room, she had been driving a very long time and been up most of the night as well. I'll wake her up and tell her that you guys are here. She promised that she would buy me a hamburger when the cafeteria opens, it's been sooo long since I had a hamburger" Toboe explains. Blue smiles: I can almost see the tail wagging behind him at the thought of this rare delicacy she thinks to herself.

Toboe runs of to find Cher, Tsume walks in to sit down by the empty chair next to Kibas bed and Hige and Blue is left standing outside the room.

Hige yawns, "I am soo tired, I swear could fall asleep standing".

"Please don't do that, you'll make such a noise when you'd hit the ground that you wake the whole floor up, including me". Blue teases before yawning as well…

"Come let's find this waiting room Toboe keeps talking about and see if we can find a sofa to crash on" Hige says temptingly.

Blue nods and tries in vain to cover up another yawn before following him, they meet Toboe and Cher on the way, Toboe is munching on a hamburger and Cher has a soft drink in her hand. They all greet each other and both Hige and Blue is thanking her for everything she has done for their friend.

"I am glad I could help but I have to get going now that you guys have arrived. I still need to find Hub. I have left enough money to pay for the hospital bill and some dinner for everybody and I have explained to Toboe everything the doctor told me.

"We understand, and once again. Thank you so much for all your help Cher". Toboe says and gives her a hug. She stiffens for a second before smiling and hugs him back.

"Take care of yourself Toboe, say hi from me and good bye to everybody" Cher says before walking towards the main entrance of the hospital.

The rest of them head to the waiting room to catch a couple of hours of sleep before releasing Tsume and let him sleep too.

Round lunchtime Kiba starts to stir, when he wakes up completely and opens his eyes the first thing he sees is machines, the second is that he is attached to most of them, immediately he freaks out and starts pulling out the needles while sitting up but before he is even half way up to sitting he is pushed down again by a familiar shape. He recognises the voice telling him to calm down. It's Tsume.

"Hey, that won't do you any good, relax it's me Tsume".

"Tsume? Where the hell am I"?

"In a human hospital".

"What? How did I get here?"

"In a car, Toboe insisted that we'd to take you to the humans and here you are now".

At this point Kiba starts to remember the last few days, how ill he'd been and the car ride with the human woman… Cher was her name. Toboe was with them too, wait, and where is the pup?

"Where is Toboe? And Hige?"

"Just sleeping, you had us pretty worried there for a while, how do you feel now?"

"Better, a bit dizzy but a lot better, I don't have a headache anymore and my leg feels a lot better". Kiba answers and rolls his neck. "God it feels like I've slept for days".

"You have" Tsume retorted dryly.

Kiba ignore his pack mates' last comment and starts getting up out of the bed, this is the first time he notices what he is dressed in, he looks down in confusion and starts looking for his clothes, he finds them on the table next to the bed.

Tsume just smirks when he sees the awkward look on Kibas face, he walks over to the clothes and moves them to the bed. "There you go, I'll wait outside".

After what he estimates to be enough time and some he walks back into the room to find Kiba standing by the window (in his own clothes now) and looking out on the street. Tsume notices that the younger man is still not putting any weight on his left leg but otherwise he does actually look a lot better.

O crap, I spoke to soon Tsume thinks to himself while rushing to his friends side: When Kiba turned to greet his friend he suddenly looked very pale again and a thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead.

"Oh hell, why does it always have to be me that have to hold your hair while you throw up? Can't you ever get sick when it is someone else turn to babysit you"?

Kiba only grunts in response, to busy throwing up into the bucket Tsume had quickly grabbed from the side of his bed and put down in front of him to pay much attention to the grey wolf's complaining. When he can breathe properly again he sits up straight, leaning on the wall under the window, he refuses to recognise Tsumes presence, obviously in a foul mood.

"Hey relax it was just a joke before, the doctor said you'd be sick when you woke up; it's the meds they gave you". Tsume tries to explain in a not so very successful attempt to comfort the younger pack mate.

"I'm tired, I would appreciate it if you left the room so I could sleep some more". He answers in a tone that completely contradicts the calm and polite words he just spoke, his eyes and tone more so telling Tsume to fuck of, or else…

Tsume however, does not seem significantly affected by the grumpy tone; he just rolls his eyes before answering. "Yeah whatever. Just don't expect me to hold your hair anymore while you puke your guts out". And with that he leaves the room to find a sofa to crash on.

"Still no change? Hige asks when Tsume enters the waiting room and throws himself on an empty two seater sofa, waking his pack mates up in the process.

"He is awake now and seems a bit better; I think the meds are helping. He is not as hot anymore but they also made him throw up again and he's real cranky right now"…

"Let me take the next shift, you need some sleep Tsume" Hige offers.

"Ok, see you later".

When Hige enters Kibas room his friend has returned to the bed, still in his own clothes though, and is now resting. His breathing is a lot less ragged and his face not as flustered as it had been the last few days. Overall, he looks a lot better in Higes eyes. Hige sits down on the chair next to the bed and is soon lost in his own thoughts.

CRASH

Hige is abruptly awakened by a loud noise from a plastic tray with some packs of plastic wrapped food and a juice hitting the cold stone floor.

What the hell? As he comes to he sees a terrified nurse in the doorway of the room staring shocked at the bed where Kiba is laying, in his fucking wolf form! Shit shit shit shit…

He sees the woman running off with a panicked expression and he can hear her screaming something about a beast, and a werewolf? What the hell is a werewolf? O no time to think about that now, he grabs the confused Kiba and drags him out of bed, in the last second he notices the meds and shoves them in his pockets while addressing Kiba.

"Come on man, we got to run, now! But change into your human form first".

Kiba is still not quite grasping what is happening but he can hear the urgency in Higes voice and does what he is told before limping out with Hige supporting him on his left side as quick as possible. When they approach the waiting room Hige screams loudly to wake the rest up as quickly as possible.

"Guys, time to leave. Like, Right now"!

"Hige, what the hell? What did you do"? Tsume growls as he grabs Toboe and starts running towards the main entrance of the hospital as well.

"I only closed my eyes for a second, not even. It was just bad luck man". Hige explains while turning around to make sure that Blue is following, which she is, and so they all leave the human building as quickly as possible.

The run for a few blocks to make sure they are not followed and duck into a dark alley to breathe for a second. However, as soon as Hige help Kiba to sit down to catch his breath he is tackled by a furious Tsume.

"You stupid punk, we can't trust you with anything can we"?

"I told you, it was just bad luck, gimme a break alright"!

Toboe and Blue is trying to separate the two fighting wolves both by physical and verbal means but to no use, they are too caught up in their emotions to listen to reason.

"Enough"!

Everybody stops in their movements and looks at Kiba who has gotten up from the ground and is now standing, just slightly leaning against the wall. He continues in a lower but still powerful voice:

"We are out of that place, nobody got hurt in the process and I cannot tell you how happy I am to be outside again. Let's forget about the whole affair. We have been delayed way too much; it is time to get going again. We need to find and save Cheeza from Jagara. So let's go".

The other wolves nod in a silent agreement and so they are finally on the right path again.

The End


End file.
